A few wealthy aficionados drive supercars. Joshua Dowling scaled the heights in this exclusive first Australian test of the new Lamborghini Murcielago and the quickest Porsche of all, the GT2.

Vast bucks

The young guy crossing the road was so taken by the Porsche GT2 that he began walking backwards as he stared – and nearly tripped over the nose of the Lamborghini Murcielago following it.

This was a pulse-quickener we didn't need, especially as we'd got the keys of the exotic Italian just minutes earlier. It showed how rare it is to see one of these cars on the road, let alone the pair.

Had we connected, it would have hurt us more than the pedestrian. This Darth Vader on wheels is the first all-new Lamborghini in 11 years. There are only three $588,988 Murcielagos in the country. And we were the first behind the wheel.

As in the very first, even before the owner. We reversed it off the transporter with 3km on the clock.

The mission: to see if Italy's famed supercar marque had delivered on the promise of a more reliable and better-built car to take on Germany's elite.

The Porsche was not just any Porsche – it was the GT2, the fastest of the Stuttgart fleet, one of only 10 in Australia, best described as a road-registered race car and a relative bargain at $399,000.

Given the cars' combined pricetag of $1 million, we would need to get all of Eddie McGuire's questions right to drive them away.

But, if you can afford one of these cars, chances are you can afford both. Indeed, one local aficionado won't be deciding which car to buy on the results of this comparison: he already had a GT2 before he bought a Murcielago.

How did he do it? He has a licence to make hamburgers – with three McDonald's franchises in Melbourne.

So who, other than the Packers and fast-food chain franchisees, can afford this kind four-wheeled indulgence? No-one is saying – the Lamborghini and Porsche concessionaires keep the identity of their buyers private.

"We don't have that many famous faces," says Lamborghini's Australian importer Andrew Smith. "Celebrities tend to go for convertibles because they want to be seen."

That said, the Lamborghini – with its vast carbon-fibre flanks and low-slung stance – is amply conspicuous. You can barely see out (the driver's view is level with the door handles of regular cars and rear visibility is almost non-existent) but everyone else is able to peer in.

On a chilly Melbourne morning, the antidote to rubbernecking was to get out of the city and on to some winding roads. Someone had to do it.

Despite driving cautiously (repairing a stone chip on the Lamborghini's paintwork would cost the equivalent of a major shunt in a Holden Commodore), it wasn't long before we drew the attention of police, who stopped us less than an hour out of town, then left us waiting for half a minute before they approached the cars.

The driver of the Porsche and I shrugged to each other; what had we done? The nervousness eased when we realised the officers just wanted to look at the cars. We even took one along briefly as a passenger.

We explained it was our task to drive these cars back to back and write about it.

The officers gave us their blessing, sent us on our way and, as they walked back to their car, muttered something about being in the wrong job.

It did not take long to realise these cars are like chalk and cheese.

Porsche has built more fast cars for longer and economies of scale mean its vehicles benefit from a much bigger development budget. Lamborghini's budget was minuscule by comparison – until the Volkswagen Audi Group bought it in 1998.

VAG wanted a jewel in its crown, and its resources ostensibly would allow Lamborghini to leap ahead. The Murcielago, Lamborghini insists, was developed by Italians but took advantage of German facilities.

"There are a few German accents in the corridors of the Italian head office," says importer Smith. "The company very much wants to keep the Italian-ness of the marque."

VW-Audi leads the automotive world in sharing components and platform across its range of cars. Lamborghini, however, is determined to ensure its components are exclusive.

For the time being, that could be viewed as a negative, because the Lamborghini's build quality is not what you would expect of a car worth more than half a million dollars. The fit and finish in a Toyota Camry is better.

The switchgear is nothing special and the indicator and wiper stalks would not be out of place in a Ford Explorer. The key has no aura about it either, and could pass for that of a humble Suzuki Swift.

The Lamborghini is the opposite of Doctor Who's Tardis: its interior dimensions are smaller than its outside appearance suggests. It is at best snug.

The Lamborghini's doors swing up, scissor-style, but the roof is extremely low. Put your feet in first, limbo under the roofline then slide down into the seat. After a few bumps and groans you find yourself in a bob-sled seating position with a go-kart view of the road ahead, which is a disadvantage in a road car. It does not help that, in direct sunlight, the Murcielago's long dashboard reflects badly in the windscreen.

The GT2 was equipped with race seats designed to embrace the driver in fast corners. But it takes a few scrapes across the back before you learn to avoid to the seat's rigid sides. You wouldn't want to deliver pizzas in either of these cars.

When the Lamborghini fires into life the dash lights up like a fighter jet's instrument display. Perversely, given the vehicle's potency and the proliferation of speed cameras on our roads, the speedometer is awkward to read – as it goes to 300kmh, there's not much space on the dial to mark the sedate speeds.

The Lamborghini has heavy steering and its turning circle is a nuisance which, at 12.5 metres, is almost as wide as a Toyota LandCruiser's.

The Murcielago six-speed gearbox is truck-like, too, with a chunky gate that does not like to be hurried. The Porsche's six-speed is slick and light.

The Italian's pedals are so cramped you can feel the steering rack above your feet when you're pressing the clutch. We resorted to driving without shoes, curling the toes over the pedal to avoid the risk of pressing the wrong one.

The German initially felt uncomfortable, but after subsequent swaps out of the Lamborghini it felt as tame as a Corolla.

The Lamborghini drives much better with its intrusive traction control switched off – slight bumps trigger the electronic nanny into action. With all-wheel-drive, the Murcielago is sure-footed but the car pushes wide in corners.

The Porsche feels much more obedient, its suspension is more compliant and the steering is more communicative – you feel every ripple in the road.

Thanks to its 426kW 6.2-litre V12, the Lamborghini pulls effortlessly from low revs but the high-tech whir changes to an almighty guttural growl from 4500rpm. With the engine just centimetres behind the driver it is, quite literally, spine-tingling.

The Porsche has a 340kW twin-turbo 3.6-litre six-cylinder that, when the turbos hit full thrust at 3500rpm, delivers its power like a light switch.

The trade-off for all its power is that the Lamborghini's fuel gauge dropped as if the tank were holed. At 24 litres/100km, it uses more than three times the fuel of an average car.

At 1650kg you can really feel the weight of the Lamborghini. The massive race-bred brakes work well but the Porsche's brakes have more bite as the GT2 is lighter on its feet, between 1379 and 1440kg depending on options.

So, which one's quicker? According to the overseas enthusiast magazines the Lamborghini outguns the Porsche by a fraction of a second in the 0-100kmh sprint – most quote about 3.6 seconds for the Lamborghini and 3.8 for the Porsche.

But on Drive's test the Porsche felt quicker, perhaps because the power was delivered in a turbocharged rush (the Lamborghini is more linear) or because the Murcielago was yet to be run-in.

The outcome of this comparison is academic. The people who can afford these cars already know which one they want or, as we said earlier, have both. However, for those of us who can afford neither, it was a rare chance to see how the other half drives.

The beauty of the GT2 is that it delivers supercar performance for a relatively bargain basement price yet looks not unlike a regular Porsche. Car spotters will notice the GT2 badge and unique rear wing. The Lamborghini is for those who want to be noticed ... provided there are no GT2s around.